Garowe (WDN) – Puntland President Said Abdullahi Deni has sharply criticized the Federal Government of Somalia’s push to implement universal suffrage, warning that elections whose outcomes are effectively predetermined cannot be considered democratic. Speaking amid the deepening constitutional and political dispute between Garowe and Mogadishu, Deni said Somalia’s long-awaited transition to one-person, one-vote elections can...
London (WDN) – Global piracy and armed robbery at sea have fallen to their lowest levels in more than three decades, according to a new report by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB). Yet amid the encouraging decline, the report warns that Somali pirate groups are showing renewed activity, raising concerns that one of the world’s...
Mogadishu (WDN) – Somali government forces stated they have killed a senior Al-Shabaab commander during a carefully planned intelligence operation in the Lower Shabelle region, highlighting both the growing sophistication of Somalia’s security services and the continuing challenge posed by the militant group’s entrenched networks across the country. In a statement, the Ministry of Defence...
Mogadishu (WDN) – Somalia’s Ministry of Petroleum has announced that Qatar has been awarded the contract to drill what is expected to become the country’s second oil production well, located in the hydrocarbon-rich Nugaal Basin in the Northeastern Regional Administration. According to the Ministry, the project will focus on the Holhol prospect near the town...
Mogadishu (WDN) – Small groups of demonstrators returned to the streets of Mogadishu for a second consecutive day on Sunday, protesting against the Federal Government and demanding the release of activist Sacdiya Bajaj, who was recently sentenced to three years in prison. The protesters, many of them young women, gathered in several neighborhoods across the...
By Abdelkarim A. Haji Hassan Somalia has entered a period of political uncertainty since the end of the transitional period. The country is confronting a deepening constitutional and governance impasse, driven by an increasingly entrenched confrontation between President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and the opposition. At the core of this deadlock are two unresolved and closely...
Hargeisa (WDN) – Somaliland’s long-serving Speaker of the House of Elders (Guurti), Saleebaan Maxamuud Aadan, has formally announced his resignation, bringing to a close more than two decades at the helm of one of Somaliland’s most influential institutions. The announcement came during an extraordinary session of the Guurti on Sunday, where the 92-year-old veteran politician...
Bosaso (WDN)– Puntland’s most important commercial hub has remained at a standstill, with port operations and business activities suspended after a dispute over increased port charges forced traders to halt operations. The shutdown has also sparked growing public protests across the coastal city of Bosaso, raising concerns about the broader economic impact on Puntland and...
Doha (WDN) – Qatar is mourning the passing of its former ruler, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Father Emir and architect of modern Qatar, who died on Sunday at the age of 74. His death was officially announced by the Amiri Diwan, the Emir’s office, marking the end of a transformative era in...
By Osman Ali Hassan Mr. President, there is a photograph circulating on social and mainstream media. It shows a group of children, no older than five or six, beaming at their kindergarten graduation in St. Paul, Minnesota. They are dressed in caps and gowns, and a number of the girls wear hijabs. Recently, you shared...